From left: William Mack, chairman of Area Property Partners, Neil Rubler, CEO of Vantage Properties, 43-09 47th Avenue in Sunnyside and 102-43 Corona Avenue in Corona

Major residential landlord Vantage Properties is turning over most of its ownership position in nearly 80 heavily rent-regulated apartment buildings in Queens to joint venture partner Area Property Partners, sources familiar with the deal said.

Area Property, led by chairman William Mack, will take control of the apartment buildings from Vantage, headed by CEO Neil Rubler, by the end of December, and transfer management to two well-known firms, the sources said. However Vantage would retain some ownership stake, but it was not clear what it would be, another source said.

Manhattan-based Cooper Square Realty and Forest Hills-based Bronstein Properties, will manage the buildings once the change happens, several sources said. [more]

Cooper Square Realty has been tapped as the managing agent for New York by Gehry, the 76-story Financial District rental tower developed by Forest City Ratner, Crain’s reported. Move-ins have already begun at the steel, 903-unit building, whose leasing office opened last month. Citi Habitats, which is marketing the property with Nancy Packes, would not reveal occupancy numbers but said leasing activity has been “above expectations.” Studios at the 8 Spruce Street behemoth — the tallest residential building in the city — start at $2,630 per month, while one-bedrooms start at $3,580 per month and two-bedrooms start at $5,945 per month. [Crain’s]

Building superintendants are getting a makeover, as a new breed of supers, sometimes called “resident managers,” are showing how the job has changed over the years, the New York Times reported. “The role of the superintendent has evolved,” said Dan Wurtzel, the president of Cooper Square Realty, which manages the condominiums at the Plaza and other buildings. “It used to be considered a blue-collar job, a fix-it person, but now if I was given the choice between hiring the best mechanic out there who had no people skills, versus someone with exceptional communication and customer service skills for a luxury building, I would choose the latter every time.” [more]

From the December issue: Residential property management group Cooper Square Realty has added 2,300 units to its portfolio. The company, which manages more than 60,000 residences, announced the new additions to its client list, spread across 11 different buildings, including the Artisan Lofts condo at 143 Reade Street and the Mirada condo at 161 East 110th Street. It is also expanding its presence in the rental market, taking over management at buildings such as 34 Leonard Street and 90 Pinehurst Avenue. [more]

Annual common charges in New York City condominiums are slated to increase next year by between 4.5 percent and 6.5 percent, on average, according to property management company Cooper Square Realty, which is the managing agent for more than 400 apartment buildings in the city, including the Plaza and One Lincoln Square. Meanwhile, co-op owners are getting hit a little harder, with maintenance charges set to rise by an average of between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2011. TRD [more]

David Kuperberg

With the annual co-op board meeting season just around the corner for many New York City residents, property managers across the five boroughs say co-op unit owners might be surprised by the outcome of these conferences, which determine how much to raise maintenance costs, according to the New York Times. Despite the financial hits that the real estate market has taken in recent years, many buildings will see their maintenance charges increase by 5 percent or more, due to continually climbing building assessments and real estate taxes. Part of the problem, according to David Kuperberg, chief executive of Cooper Square Realty, is the so-called “phasing out” of building assessments. “A lot of people don’t realize that assessments are phased in over five years,” Kuperberg said. “We’re getting increases in 2010 from valuations that were done in 2006 at the height of the market.” [NYT]

[more]

David Kuperberg

Cooper Square Realty,
a subsidiary of FirstService Residential Management, is one of the
largest residential property management companies in New York City. It
manages 437 condominiums, cooperatives, and rental properties in New
York City, including the Plaza Residences, 10 West End Avenue and One
Lincoln Square, with an aggregate value of over $5 billion.

How profitable is your business today compared to say five years ago?
Our net income is four times higher and our staff has increased more than 150 percent.

A group of 45 unit owners at Rector Square condominium in Battery Park filed a $100 million lawsuit against Yair Levy, Michael Shvo and you, alleging widespread fraud, negligence and misrepresentation. How do you respond to the suit?
In a lawsuit of this size — there are 12 defendants named — the
plaintiffs included as many parties as possible. As the managing agent,
we were also named. The majority of claims are unrelated to our role as
managing agent; we did nothing wrong.
Compiled by Lauren Elkies. [more]

From left: Yair Levy, Michael Shvo, and Rector Square at 225 Rector Place

A group of 45 unit owners at Rector Square condominium in Battery Park filed a $100 million lawsuit against developer Yair Levy, superbroker Michael Shvo and building manager Cooper Square Realty, alleging widespread fraud, negligence and misrepresentation. According to the suit filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court, Levy, the owner of YL Real Estate Developers, defaulted on the mortgage loan with Anglo Irish Bank, failed to complete construction of the building, converted reserve funds for his own use and failed to make PILOT payments to the Battery Park City Authority. The plaintiffs claim the sponsor and broker misrepresented the quality of the building to potential purchasers. “Instead of a building of their dreams they bought into a building of nightmares,” said Marc Held, attorney for the unit owners. Levy also allegedly sold a block of 15 apartments to an Italian university for use as dorm rooms for exchange students and rented out apartments to Marriott for use as extended-stay hotels, violating local zoning laws. [more]

Stribling & Associates is set to become the exclusive broker for residential building manager Cooper Square Realty, according to an announcement from the companies today. Overseeing over 300 buildings and 60,000 apartments across the five boroughs, Cooper Square is the largest residential property management group in the city. Stribling, which has around 200 agents, focuses largely on luxury listings in Manhattan. Cooper Square and Stribling will share commissions, Crain’s reported, with Stribling brokers gaining special training on Cooper Square listings. This alliance, however, isn’t the only change in Cooper Square’s future — the company plans to create an energy conservation subsidiary that will offer insight to building owners on how to reduce energy consumption.

A New York State Supreme Court judge late last month ordered the
appointment of veteran corporate attorney Stuart Shorenstein to take
over as receiver of 34 Leonard, the troubled luxury co-op development
in Tribeca. Shorenstein, who recently joined the corporate law division at Cozen
O’Connor, was ordered Aug. 27 to collect rents and complete
construction of the property and named Cooper Square Realty as managing
agent at the building. The order also named E.W. Howell, as general
contractor of the project. “The goal is to complete the [construction of] the building,” Shorenstein told The Real Deal,
when asked about the fate of the project. “The second step is to
complete the foreclosure action. Once that is done, we’ll be in a
position to decide how to proceed.” [more]